From 'Mementoes of the Martyrs' : "...which provoked a Frenchman who was there to comment on the strange ways of the English, "those who are for the pope are hanged, those who are against him are burned:" Saint John-Paul II wrote: "The fact that one can die for the faith shows that other demands of the faith can also be met." Cardinal Müller says, “For the real danger to today’s humanity is the greenhouse gases of sin and the global warming of unbelief and the decay of morality when no one knows and teaches the difference between good and evil.” St Catherine of Siena said, “We've had enough exhortations to be silent. Cry out with a thousand tongues - I see the world is rotten because of silence.” Chesterton said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Brethren, Wake up!

THE LITURGY in the form revised by Pope Pius XII in the 1950’s re-introduced the time of an evening celebration, begun after dark on Holy
Saturday evening. This is considered by some –incorrectly- to be the most
popular time of the celebration for the ancients. The missal indicates that the Church in Rome
where this liturgy was customarily celebrated was that of St John Lateran. This
great basilica was previously known as the Basilica of our Saviour and is the
mother church of all Christendom. It was the first great public place of
Christian worship specifically built as such in the fourth century by the
Emperor Constantine. There it was that in the centuries following the end of
the early persecutions of Christians, the new Roman converts were publicly
baptised and initiated into the mysteries of the Church. Submerged in the water
three times, in memory of the three days of Christ in the tomb, they emerged as
new members of His Church. They had symbolically died to sin to be brought back
to new life with Him.

THE liturgy of this night is the
richest and the most lengthy of all the great ceremonies of this week. It
begins in darkness and ends in light. This darkness is symbolic as well as
real. The light in this case is not natural but is the illumination of faith,
signified by a lighted candle. We have been led out of the bondage of ignorance
and slavery to sin to the light of truth and the freedom of the children of
God. This is nothing less than an expression in visible symbols of what has
happened to us in baptism. In the early centuries, as we know from study and
research, the ceremonies of baptism usually occurred during this celebration
and were an essential part of it. All the great themes of the struggle against
evil, and death its elder child, are apparent in the rites and prayers in use
in this liturgy. This evening, I would just like briefly to mention something
about the presumed origin of some of the rites and symbols associated with this
liturgy. I am indebted to the works of Dr Heinrich Kellner, Heortology, A History of Christian Festivals
and Mgr Louis Duchesne, Christian Worship,
both written in the first decade of the 20th century, for most of
these details.

THE very first part of the Vigil,
the blessing of the new fire, was unknown in ancient Rome. Kellner says it
originated in Germany, where it was known as the “Osterfeuer” and it was
introduced into Rome by Pope Leo IV (847-855).Duchesne however, maintains that it came from the British Isles. From
there it was brought toGermany by the
British and Irish monks who were evangelists there in the eight century. This
is certainly more likely, for the ancient Celts are renowned for their
particular devotion to fires in their pagan rites.The Easter fires were always new and lit from
new flints. Rome had its own version of the new fire. On Maundy Thursday, all
the old oil from the church lamps in the Lateran Basilica was collected into
three large vessels containing wicks, which were placed in the corner of the
church. From these vessels all the candles and other lights used at the Easter
Vigil were lighted. The ceremony of taking the light from these vessels was
always solemn, being done at the Pope’s order by a bishop or a priest.

LAST NIGHT we went in spirit to
the Garden to keep vigil with the Lord in His agony. On that same night, in the
first Holy Week, he was taken by force, abandoned by most of His friends and
dragged before the Sanhedrin. It is to the Gospels that we turn for the
recorded details of that night. They convey enough of the scene for us to
envisage the worst that occurred. Our imagination may do the rest. We can also
look more deeply into the account and put together from other sources what is not
immediately available in that narrative.

THE betrayal itself was done with
a kiss. John’s Gospel –the one that we shall hear today- does not mention this.
He desires more to show the voluntary and majestic manner of Jesus in the
moment of His arrest. The other Gospels speak in Greek of the kataphilein: it was a kiss of the
tender, loving kind by which Judas betrayed the Master.The trial of Jesus –if we may so describe it-
before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, is given in its outline by the Gospels with
Luke adding the extra detail of a trial before King Herod. If we understand
something of the custom of Jewish trials of the time, we shall observe how far
short of justice this one fell.

THE
Missa in Coena Dominicommemorates
and recreates Our Blessed Lord’s last communal action with his beloved
Disciples. We gather in symbolic and ceremonial action in the church, which for
this occasion becomes as it were, the Cenacle in Jerusalem. Here, the intimacy
between us and our Divine Lord is both poignant, because it also involves
remembrance of betrayal, and also precious, because we celebrate the institution
of the Priesthood, The Mass, and the reality of His abiding presence in the
Sacrament of the Altar.The heart and
mind of each person participating in the liturgy should be focused on the
Person of the Lord in a more profound and penetrating spirit of gratitude and
sorrow for past neglect. The custom of an evening Mass, specifically to
celebrate the institution of Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist developed in
consequence of the earlier morning liturgy being primarily one of reconciling public
penitents and later the Blessing of the Holy Oils. The celebration of evening
Mass of the Mandatum and the rituals associated with it that have been handed
on to us are the accumulation over time of the piety and liturgical traditions
of centuries of developing faith and ceremonial.

THERE
are some ancient customs associated with this Mass that have now fallen out of
use. Unusually during the early centuries of the Church – and certainly in the
fourth century as described by St Augustine - the Mass followed a festal supper
and the normal fast before Holy Communion was suspended. It was also the custom
— as it ideally should be still — for no individual Masses to be offered on this
day, but for the clergy to communicate together at the Mandatum. White
vestments or cloth of gold are now the order of the day but there are early
indications that green vestments for this Mass have also been used before the
early Middle Ages. A recent study by Giovanni Scarabelli on the cult and
devotion of the Order of Malta, drawn from archives in the National Library of
Malta provide us with many valuable insights into our former customs. According to the rites and customs of the
Order in its long history of Conventual life, the celebration of the Maundy liturgy
was to be carried out with the scrupulous attention to detail and arrangement of
accessories and wearing the most precious vestments. The altar ornaments were
always to be of silver. In accordance with a papal decree, from 1363 until
1770, the Bull “In Coena Domini” of
Pope Urban V, listing all the censures incurring instant excommunication and reserved
to the Pope for absolution, was decreed by the Holy See to be read at the Missa in Coena Domini, following the
Credo. The Order faithfully observed this custom during the time it was in
force. The list of censures was revised several times during the centuries,
eventually extending from five to twenty, and including among other items “Hindering
the supply of the exportation of food and other commodities to the Roman court;
The supply of arms and weapons to Saracens or Turks” and “violence done the
Cardinals, Legates or Nuncios.” After a storm of protest grew from various bad
Catholic rulers in the 18th century, Pope Clement XIV –famous for
his Trevi Fountain initiative - did not abolish the bull but quietly removed
the order to publish it. It was eventually abrogated by Pope Pius IX.

POPE BENEDICT XVI, while still Cardinal Ratzinger, makes the point in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy that the Exodus from Egypt of the Chosen
People is inseparably linked to worship. It is not primarily about a land to
live in, but a permanent place in which to render appropriate homage to God
according to His own mandates. Every time Moses confronts Pharaoh with God’s
demand to “let my people go”; it is always followed by this reason: that they may sacrifice, or make a feast to
Him in the wilderness. (Ex. 5-10) When they have reached it, the supremacy of
that aspect of this covenant is emphasised. The Book of Exodus itself devotes six
chapters (Ex. 35-40) to liturgical prescriptions. The essence of the Passover
is therefore indisputably liturgical. It is so in a sacrificial sense.

THE post-Exodus worship has been
described by Archbishop Fulton Sheen as “A veritable haemorrhage of blood”. It was
in and through the shedding of blood — the blood of the Passover lambs — that the
Jews achieved deliverance. Later, in the land where they came to dwell, they
continued to acknowledge this and rendered appropriate homage to God whose
power had saved them. It signified both absolute dependence and obedience. The
only true title deed to the territory they came to possess rested in their
fulfilment of those rituals of worship commanded in their sacred writings. In
the course of time a designated permanent sanctuary and a system of priesthood
came into existence. The synagogue services carried on throughout Israel, Judea
and the Jewish Diaspora in the first century AD had begun only in the 6th
century BC. That was the time of the exile in Babylon, when there was no Temple
and therefore no sacrifices. The synagogue services continued when they came
back to the Promised Land.But they were
always secondary and in addition to what was happening in the Temple. By the
time of Our Lord, this was still very much the case.

ISTHERE ANYONE who has not felt betrayed
or wounded by a relative or friend at some time? If we have, can we recall what
our feelings were at that time? Perhaps we can; very easily. Maybe because the
hurt has never really gone away and we have not yet forgiven the person
responsible. If we think that those who have wronged us have a case to answer,
what about all the offences committed against God and against His justice and
goodness? Day after day, on our screens and in our papers, crimes against
humanity and the blasphemies against God and His holy ones confront us and
condemn those responsible.

BLASPHEMERS will say that if there is a God He
should have better things to do than feel offended. They say this unaware that
every beat of their hearts is a work of His love. Unrepentant evil-doers defy
God and pile on crime upon crime unmindful of the consequences and heedless of
the thought of judgement. Millions, who should be in church each week and will
hardly enter it on Easter Sunday, will instead trace their steps to the
exclusive pursuit of pleasure in all its forms, hardly sparing a thought for
the welfare of their souls.

SHOULD we take refuge in cynicism and indifference
because of all this? Though there have been times when our society was less
fractured and less steeped in materialism, there has always been in some other
parts of the world, a framework of oppression or of heathen systems of social
engagement. Centuries ago, while Europe was enjoying a golden age of faith,
there was savagery on other continents. But it was unknown to most in Europe. Now,
the distribution of communication and technology makes it possible for us to
see instantly the misery of others and challenges both our faith in God as well
as our obsession with our own convenience. It is hard to be a Christian now but
Calvary can help us to make sense of the confusion.

With heartfelt thanks to the Chaplain of the Grand Priory, Dr Antony Conlon, we are presenting this Holy Week a series of Spiritual Reflections to allow members of the Order to make a person retreat, on Palm Sunday, and on the three days of the Sacred Triduum. Many of us do not have the advantage of being in places where much spiritual food is available in our parishes, and it is for these people that the Grand Priory exists to assist in their fully participation in the Mysteries of our Salvation.

The talks were first delivered as part of the Triduum Retreats which in earlier terms were held, of high successive years, at our Conventual Church in St John's Wood. (The editor has made only modest revisions, such as updating references to the then Cardinal Ratzinger, but readers are to accept them both as having been prepared a decade ago, and as being written to be read aloud.)

Let us make the most of these three days which hurry past us in the twinkling of an eye, and come to the joy of the Resurrection fully prepared by the fasts and spiritual practices of a good Lent well-lived.

The posts will come up early in the morning of each of the days.

On the evening of Spy Wednesday, 28th March, there is a monthly Conventual Mass, at 7pm at Spanish Place. This is a good opportunity to begin the last great days of Holy Week together, even if we are then to all go our separate ways.

François-René de Chateaubriand, the late 18th Century French writer, politician and bon-viveur, and a Knight of our Beloved Order, recounts the joyful experience of his First Confession, which will be a good reminder to many of us this Lent, especially perhaps our young members on Retreat in Walsingham this weekend, to avail ourselves fully of this great gift of the Church, to the protection and exaltation of our eternal souls. Do not be afraid of Confession!

Theschoolboy Chateaubriand is being prepared for his first confession by a severe-looking priest, “a man of fifty with astern appearance” (in Robert Baldick’s translation). Having read a frightening book about the eternal fate of those who hide their sins in the confessional,the young lad grows unbearably anxious. When the day comes, he is shaking with fear and scarcely able to stammer out his sins. Then the priest prepares to say the words of absolution.

If Heaven had shot a thunderbolt at me, it would have caused me less dread. I cried:

“I have not confessed everything!”

This awe-inspiring judge, this delegate of the Supreme Arbiter, whose face filled me with such fear, became the tenderest of shepherds. He clasped me in his arms and burst into tears.

“Come now, dear child,” he said, “Courage!”

It was, Chateaubriand recalled, an instant of supreme happiness, like a mountain lifting from him: “I shall never experience a like moment in the whole of my life.”

The illustration above, of Chateaubriand's entry into our Order, as the quotation, come from his autobiography, Mémoires d´outre-tombe (1841). The illustration, oddly, shows what appears to be a rite of tonsure, but in a lay context. This is not the subject of this post but someone might wish to look into it.

This last Friday of the Lenten season, the Friday in Passion Week, was celebrated widely (and remains a Commemoration) as the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, she who felt the pains of the Passion more than any other creature. She it was who watched in silence as the Lord underwent these agonising trial for us, for our Salvation, for me, and for you.

From the sermon "On the Twelve Stars" by St Bernard of Clairvaux

The martyrdom of the Virgin is set before us both in the prophesy of Simeon and in the story of Our Lord's Passion. The saintly old man had said of the child Jesus, "Behold this child is destined as a sign that shall be contradicted." To Mary he said, "And your own soul a sword shall pierce." Yes, truly, O Blessed Mother, the sword pierced your soul. Only by passing through your soul could it penetrate the Body of your Son, When Jesus your Son had given up his spirit, when the cruel spear which pierced his side could no longer touch his soul, it transfixed yours. His soul was no longer there. Yours was. It could not be torn away. The sword of sorrow did indeed pierce your soul.

We call you more than martyr because your love, which made you suffer with your Son, brought pain of soul far more exquisite than any pain of body. "Woman behold your Son." Was not this word of your Son more piercing that any sword as it thrust in and cut apart soul and spirit? O what an exchange! You are given John for Jesus, the servant for the Lord, the disciple for the Master, the son of Zebedee for the Son of God, mere man for very God. How keenly these words must have pierced your loving soul! Mere remembrance of them can wring with sorrow our hard steely hearts.

Do not wonder, my brethren, that Mary is said to be martyred in spirit. He only may wonder who has forgotten the words of the Apostle Paul. When he wrote of the sins of the Gentiles he placed among their greatest that they were without affection. Such want of affection was far from Mary's heart. O may it be equally far for those of her servants! Do some people comment, "But she must have known beforehand that He was going to die." Yes, she knew it. "Had she no hope that He would soon rise again?" Yes, she had hope; she had absolute faith. "Did she in spite of this mourn for her crucified Son?" Yes, and deeply. Who are you, my brother? What kind of wisdom is yours? Do you marvel less that the Son of Mary suffered than that Mary suffered with Him? He could die in body. Could she not die with Him in her heart? His death was brought about by a love greater than any man has; hers by a love no other mortal ever had, except she. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.

The Church of CORPUS CHRISTI, MAIDEN LANE, near Covent Garden in London, the first church in England to be dedicated after the Restoration of the Hierarchy to the Mystery of Corpus Christi, has for the past few years been undergoing a comprehensive restoration, and is to be formally opened by His Eminence Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, on the Feast of Corpus Christi this year, Sunday 3rd June.

The Church will become a centre for adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Diocese.

The Parish is seeking contributions of funds toward the purchase of a pair of English Gothic candelabra, which have come from a Catholic church, and bear the symbols of the Holy Family, Jesus Mary and Joseph, on enamel shields. It is hoped that members of the Order of Malta and Companions and Friends will contribute generously; part of our charism as an Order is the promotion of excellence in the Sacred Liturgy, as a part of our work of Tuitio Fidei, and this is a very good practical way of doing it.

They would stand either side of the High Altar and would be used for the Feast of Corpus Christi and particularly for the annual 40 Hours Devotion which is to be restored at the desire of His Eminence the Cardinal.

For those wishing to make further Lenten almsgiving, here is a good opportunity!

Those readers with blogs, Twitter or Facebook pages etc, are encouraged to disseminate this notice as widely as possible.

Should you wish to give more to the wonderful work at Corpus Christi, general donations to the Restoration Fund may be made HERE.

Benefactors are recorded in the Benefactors’ Book and are remembered at the Altar in a specific Benefactors’ Mass each month.For those wishing to participate spiritually in the work of the Church of Corpus Christi, you may join the SODALITY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, visit the website HERE.

Today we celebrate a home-grown British missionary saint, a cause of great joy. As a young man Patrick was sent away to study in Paris, and received a very powerful vocation from Almighty God to be a messenger of Christ to the people of Ireland. He spent his life in the service of God and of the Irish people and built a community of Faith which was once called the land of saints and scholars.

In his mystical writings we count the Breastplate, or "Lorica", which is also the word used for the incantations used by Roman soldiers going into battle, as we should use this prayer going into our spiritual warfare of Obsequium Pauperum et Tuitio Fidei. This famous prayer is a gift to the whole Church.

Fr Z has a lovely post HERE, giving the text in both Latin and English, and a 'podcast' which you may listen to HERE. We are very grateful to him.

This, the Friday after the IV Sunday of Lent, the last Friday before Passiontide, when all these sacred devotions will come together for our Salvation, was celebrated in many places as the Feast of the Most Precious Blood. The Mass and Office is the same as that of the universal feast celebrated on the 1st July.

Let us renew our prayers, this last Friday, for the wellbeing of our holy Order, and for the strength in a time of trial for our beloved Religious members, who through all their human frailty, have dedicated their lives to our sanctification.

Let us place in God's saving hands especially the constitutional reform of our Order taking place at this time, and ask him not to forget the graces merited by so many of our predecessors over the last 900 years, but to renew us in strength, for our sanctification, and for the glory of His Redeeming Son whom we serve in Our Lords the Poor.

Following our recent post HERE, we can confirm that the Order of Malta will be organising a group to pray the ROSARY on the COAST together on Sunday 29th April at 3pm.

Provisionally the location for those in or near London, led by the Grand Priory, will be near Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, which is an easy journey from London by train, and from Essex and Kent. More information will appear on this blog, and a Facebook group will be set up soon. We shall hopefully all meet up for a jolly lunch by the sea first, there are some fine fish restaurants in Old Leigh, a Roman fishing village. Keep following us for details.More general information may be had from the Rosary organisers' website, HERE, where those of you who are unable to join the Malta London group can join other groups or set up your own. There is an interactive map. We would, however, ask that wherever you go, you do so visibly as a Member or Companion of the Order of Malta, or OMV. Our common witness is important; this is Tuitio Fidei.

Monsignor Armitage, one of our chaplains in the Order, and Rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, presents a video about this wonderful witness. The picture of Monsignore saying the rosary quietly in the snow in the Shrine grounds is very moving. Pray for him too.

The Lenten Evening was given last Wednesday by Father David Howell in the beautiful Lady Chapel of St James's Spanish Place, to many members of the Order and Companions.

The evening began, with sung Vespers of the Little Office, and Father Howell then spoke on what Saint John the Baptist offers us for Lent by way of guidance in prayer, fasting and almsgiving. He spoke of Fraternal Correction as a form of Almsgiving, which links in with the Order's understanding of the inseparable nature of Tuitio Fidei and Obsequium Pauperum. John the Baptist listened to God's call and to the voice of Jesus which gave him joy, even during his imprisonment when his faith was wavering. He fasted as a way to hunger for the Messiah before he came and he gave alms (charity) in a refined way: by gently correcting Herod, so gently that Herod was even "glad to listen to him" afterwards, and by pointing out Jesus to others by his preaching and the example of his sufferings which foreshadowed the Passion of the Lord.
The evening closed with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

We are very grateful to Father Howell for his insights, and hope in due course to be able to bring our readers a further mediation on this subject. He spoke from notes on the evening, so we do not have a transcript.

Let us continue to pray especially this year on these Fridays of Lent, for the wellbeing of our holy Order, and for the strength in a time of trial for our beloved Religious members, who through all their human frailty, have dedicated their lives to our sanctification.

Let us all pray on this day for our country of England, that by His Holy Wounds, Christ may free those in authority from the promotion of all injustice and evil, that his reign may once again be established within our shores.

Our Lenten Evening of Recollection will take place on Wednesday 7th March, beginning at 7pm. Through the kindness of the Rector, our confrère Father Christopher Colven, it will be held in the Lady Chapel of St James’s Church, Spanish Place.

The evening will be led by the Reverend Father David Howell, assistant priest at Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill. Fr Howell was ordained in July 2016, and is known to a number of us through Oxford and OMV connections.
The evening will begin with Vespers, followed by a Lenten Reflection given by Fr Howell, and will conclude with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

As ever, everyone is welcome: ALL members of BASMOM, other members of the Order in Britain, Companions and guests.

St James’s Spanish Place is at 22 George Street, London, W1U 3QY – north of Manchester Square, behind the Wallace Collection.

There will be drinks in the Rectory afterwards, and a contribution of £10 per head (£5 for younger attendees) will be invited to cover the expenses of the evening.

It is never too late to begin our Lenten observances, so if you have not joined us on the previous two Fridays, please pray this week, as we are on the Fridays of Lent, for the wellbeing of our holy Order, and for the strength in a time of trial for our beloved Religious members, who through all their human frailty, have dedicated their lives to our sanctification.

PRAYER OF THE ORDER OF MALTA

Lord Jesus, Thou hast seen fit to enlist me for Thy service among the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. I humbly entreat Thee through the intercession of the most holy Virgin of Philermo, of St John the Baptist, Blessed Gerard and all the Saints, to keep me faithful to the traditions of our Order. Be it mine to practise and defend the Catholic, the Apostolic, the Roman faith against the enemies of religion: be it mine to practise charity towards my neighbours, especially the poor and the sick; Give me the strength I need to carry out this my resolve, forgetful of myself, learning ever from Thy holy Gospel a spirit of deep and generous Christian devotion, striving ever to promote God’s glory, the world’s peace, and all that may benefit the Order of St John of Jerusalem. AMEN